WE ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED TO POETRY AND FICTION SUBMISSIONS AND ARE ACCEPTING PHOTOGRAPHY SUBMISSIONS ONLY—Submit your photos

We’re looking for pieces featuring or inspired by your time in the Midwest. Our goal is to collect the very best in Midwestern writers and writing in an effort to compile a definitive resource on the region and its influences. (Want more info on what we’re all about? Click here.)

We want established writers as well as new ones: If we love it, we’ll publish it. Make sure to send us your best work that makes us think and ponder and swoon. Also, please make sure it’s fully edited (read: finished). Granted, if we see something in a piece we love that sticks out, we may ask you about it, or in the rare case we see room for change, likewise, we’ll let you know, but this is your piece, and we want you to have it ready for print the moment you send to us. We take a great deal of pride here, so should you.

We’re also looking for pictures year-round that best capture the essence of the Midwest (we’ll leave that open-ended so you can decide for yourself what that means). Images intending harm or disrespect will be trashed immediately. Collectively, the editors will review every image and, assuming you have captured some sort of Midwestern flavor, will post it to the site as soon as possible.

SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES

FICTION

• Please submit short fiction of up to 10,000 words.
• Fiction should be double-spaced and in 12-point font (easier for us to read that way).
• Please only submit as Word (.doc/.docx) or RTF (.rtf) files.

POETRY

• Please submit no more than three poems (all in one file).
• Please only submit as Word (.doc/.docx) or RTF (.rtf) files.

PHOTOGRAPHY

• For photos, we’re looking for images of at least a 6” x 9” at 300 dpi resolution.
• Make sure to include any pertinent copyright information (e.g. your name, the year it was taken), and a short title/caption.

MISC

• For all submissions, please include contact info (email and/or phone). You can send a cover letter if you want, but it’s not required.
• Please also include a short third-person bio of 150 words or less for all fiction submissions (prose and poetry).
• Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please let us know the moment your piece is accepted elsewhere (it’s the polite thing to do).

We do accept simultaneous submissions. Ideally, we’d prefer to be your first and only thought for publishing, but we understand this can be a bit unreasonable in today’s increasingly competitive market. If your submission has been published previously, make sure to let us know where your piece appeared first (so we can give credit where credit is due), and please let us know immediately if your piece is accepted elsewhere.

If your work is accepted for publication in Midwestern Gothic, we will notify you by email. Please note that while we carefully read and consider each submission, due to the volume we receive, we won’t be able to respond to everyone: If you don’t hear from us after a month of submitting, chances are your work was not selected. We will do our best to notify everyone, though. If you choose to query us on the status of your submission, please wait for a full month after you submit to send us an email at MWGothic (at) gmail.com.

Submit Now

PAYMENT

If your piece is chosen to be published in an issue of Midwestern Gothic, you will receive a complimentary digital copy of the issue. Authors will also receive special contributor rates on additional books. Four times a year we will choose a photo from our archives as the cover for the next issue of Midwestern Gothic. Those selected will be notified via email and will also receive a complimentary digital issue.

RIGHTS

We ask for first-time publishing rights—after that, copyright will revert to you.  If your work is reprinted, we ask that you reference our prior publication.  Please consider that issues of Midwestern Gothic will be available in various electronic formats in addition to print (downloadable PDFs, Kindle, iPhone, etc.). We reserve the right to include your work on our website or in collections of texts selected from past issues.

Midwestern Gothic retains no rights on submitted images—they belong exclusively to the photographer/owner.

We’re more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Send an email to MWGothic (at) gmail.com and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

NOW ACCEPTING PHOTOGRAPHY SUBMISSIONS